Chuck versus Scenes From a Movie
by Robert Modean
Summary: AU - A series of related scenes that take place during a five month period starting about two years after Chuck received the Intersect. Some drama, some adventure, a dash of CHARAH, and maybe a pinch of JELLIE later on.
1. Chapter 1: Worst Case Scenario

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own nor am I involved with the production of _Chuck._ On the plus side, I work cheap so if Chris or Josh is reading this - call me.

Synopsis: This isn't a normal story, more like a collection of scenes that have run through my mind while writing other fics. The first of these occurs about two years from when the Chuck gets the Intersect, in this timeline Chuck has been a CIA Field Agent for seven months. At this point I'm thinking five chapters and an epilogue, unless I decide to write a lot more..

_A/N: Adult language and situations apply._

**Chuck versus Scenes from a Movie - Chapter 1 - Worst Case Scenario**

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This was the worst case scenario, the one that Chuck had always feared. In two years on the job he'd been in plenty of bad situations: he'd been beaten, tortured, shot, stabbed, electrocuted, and endured a variety of hardships that made him question why he kept doing what he did, but this was the one thing he feared the most. He was trapped on a crowded cross town bus being used as a human shield by a madman. That was bad. Chuck could feel the point of a hunting knife as it dug into the flesh below his jaw, and he watched with a mild panic as that same madman waved a gun at Sarah with his other hand. That was very bad. Sarah stood fifteen feet away, her pistol trained on them both, unable to get a clear shot at the man hiding behind Chuck. Still worse, but not quite worst case. Of course there were two mitigating factors that pushed this from the merely very bad into worst case territory. First Chuck's sister was on the bus, seated just a few feet from him. Second, there was a bomb.

"Sarah, do you love me?" Chuck saw the turmoil in her face, he hoped she was watching as he motioned downward with his eyes.

"Yes Chuck, I love you." What the hell was this about, and what was up with his eyes?

"Sarah, do you trust me?" Chuck continued to motion downward with his eyes, he prayed she could figure out what he was about to do.

"Yes baby, I trust you." Sarah could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks. She knew what it meant now. He was a brave, brave idiot and if they survived this she was going to kick his ass.

"Then take the shot."

Saying those words Chuck jerked his knees toward his chest in a single fluid motion, and instantly dropped straight down toward the floor of the bus. He yelped as the madman's knife cut into his neck, jaw and cheek but he hit the floor alive. The madman wasn't as lucky as Chuck watched Sarah's gun discharge once, striking the target right in the forehead. Sarah and Ellie both leapt to Chuck's side as he held a hand to his neck to stem the flow of blood.

"Chuck! Oh my God Chuck your bleeding!" Ellie was nearly in a panic until Sarah grabbed her forcefully by the shoulder.

"Check his wound, make sure he'll be ok and get him out of here." Sarah instructed.

"No! No time. We've got one minute forty-three seconds before the bomb blows and twenty blocks are covered with radioactive debris. Just let me up." Chuck tried to push them both away so he could get to the beeping device that spelled doom for everyone he loved.

"It's not that bad, the knife missed the major arteries...it's deep below the jaw but the rest is superficial." Ellie had retreated into her professional persona.

"Can you do it Chuck?" Sarah ignored Ellie who was working to bandage Chuck.

Chuck's eyes glazed over for a second. "It's a Serbian design similar to the ones built by Georgic Barcia. I need a can of hairspray or any kind of flammable propellant and a lighter."

"Chuck come on, let's go. You need stitches, these people can handle it."

Ellie had fashioned a crude bandage for his cut and was trying to pull him toward the bus exit as members of the LAPD bomb squad came onboard the bus. She'd managed to pull him backwards half a step even as he was holding onto the side of a seat for balance.

"We're looking for 'Agent Carmichael', is he in charge?"

"Over here." Chuck shouted as he shrugged Ellie off, dislodging the bandage. "Sarah?"

Sara saw the look in his eyes as he jerked his head back toward his sister. Moving quickly she grabbed Ellie by the shoulders and forced her away from Chuck toward the back of the bus. "Ellie, come with me. Chuck knows what he's doing but he can't do it if we're bothering him." Sarah continued to talk soothingly but Ellie's clinically detached facade was long gone, and she let out a scream as she reached for Chuck. Sarah grimaced as she forced the wildcat in her arms backward. The level headed doctor was now just another terrified woman fighting valiantly to reach for the only family she had left. "Come on, we'll wait outside for him to finish up." But Ellie grabbed onto the handrail near the rear exit and refused to let go. Her eyes glued to Chuck as he worked. Sarah relented and knelt beside her.

"Any luck on the hairspray?!"

"We've got ether!"

"Great, I need a lighter."

"Buddy I hope to hell you know what you're doing, cause we got less than a minute to go." A man with lieutenant's bars was speaking.

Chuck pointed the can of ether and the lighter at the central control unit and turned them into a mini flamethrower that began cooking the metal casing. As the flames licked around the unit he watched the digital counter begin to flicker and finally die. Satisfied he tossed the can of ether back to one of the men in the bomb squad and looked up at the Lieutenant who'd spoken to him.

"Serbian manufacture. Sixty-two pounds of Semtex with two redundant ignition circuits and a mercury anti-tampering failsafe. All of that is routed through a shielded central control unit which runs everything off a proprietary CPU. Fortunately the main processor fails at temperatures above three hundred degrees. Only way to stop it was to bake the unit without cooking off the Semtex. Oh, and be careful, I'd lay even money there's a pressure control dead man switch somewhere on it. Barcia didn't use it in all of his designs, so it's hard to tell but if you could wait until I'm gone to find out..." Chuck smiled at the crowd of demolitions experts who were staring dumbfounded.

"So I guess you know a little something about munitions disposal Agent Carmichael?" the Lieutenant finally said smiling.

"Only what I read." Chuck grinned back at him, then winced. "Sarah, I think I need stitches."

"Lady, get this man out of here." The Lieutenant smiled up at Sarah, "Heroes don't bleed more than they have to."

"Come on 'Agent Carmichael' let's get you patched up." Sarah led him toward the back exit where Ellie still held the hand rail. "Ellie, we're taking Chuck to the hospital now. Let's go."

"I have him." Ellie came to life finally and she grabbed Chuck's arm away from Sarah, placing her body between the two.

"Ellie..." Sarah stopped, she could tell that Ellie was in shock.

"Ellie, Sarah's coming with us." Chuck patted her arm. "She'll ride with me in the back, okay?"

"Chuck, she killed a man." Ellie looked at Sarah with fear in her eyes.

"Ellie, we'll talk about this at the hospital." Chuck looked at Sarah who nodded back to him.

"Casey, bomb's defused. LAPD is doing cleanup. Carmichael got cut and we're taking him in for stitches. And tell Beckman we're adding one to the team. Dr Ellie Woodcombe."

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The ride to the hospital was uneventful. The paramedics both sat in the front since neither Ellie nor Sarah would leave Chuck's side. Ellie ignored Sarah the entire ride, and instead focused on Chuck's wound. At the hospital Ellie tried to have Sarah barred from the examination room but Sarah refused to move and after a quickly placed phone call Security refused to move her. Chuck tried talking to Ellie but she refused to say anything to him that wasn't related to his condition. Finally he just focused on Sarah.

"Sarah, I'm sorry about this."

"I understand Chuck, you did what you had to do. In your mind it was an acceptable risk." Sarah's tone was flat, professional, and cold. Chuck flinched at it and Ellie looked at her like she was alien.

"And from your tone I can tell you don't agree." Chuck tried a half hearted smile.

Sarah stood still for several seconds, crossing then uncrossing her arms before she launched a verbal tirade that caused Ellie to jump back. Chuck seemed unfazed.

"He had a knife at your throat idiot! Just what the hell were you thinking?!" Sarah took a step forward and leaned in as she continued to yell. "Are you trying to drive me to an early grave? Is that what you want Chuck? We went through hell to get where we are and you just go and risk it all like that?! What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I think you already asked that." Chuck's smile faded when he realized the joke failed.

"Oh don't try that cutesy joking crap on me mister. Your ass is in so deep right now you don't want to keep digging." Sarah turned he back to him and tried to regain her composure.

"Sarah, I know it was a risky maneuver but I had to do it." He continued to talk to her back. "We had less than two minutes before the bomb was set to detonate, the tactical team was still three minutes out, Casey wasn't responding. Look the way that guy was holding the knife I knew the odds were that he'd miss the jugular and..."

"Odds?! You're talking odds?!" Sarah had spun so quickly that this time both Chuck and Ellie recoiled. "You want to talk odds to me Chuck Bartowski how about this one, what are the odds you're getting any the rest of this month? Here's a clue, **ZERO**!"

Ellie watched in strange fascination as the drama played out between her brother and his girlfriend. She wasn't sure what to think. Police, Federal agents, even Sarah calling her brother 'Agent Carmichael'. Her brother knowing how to disarm a bomb, and how coolly he acted during the whole insane situation, and Sarah. Oh my God, Sarah, lovely sweet beautiful Sarah standing there with a gun, telling her brother she loved him, shooting that man in cold blood. She'd been so in control, like Chuck, so focused it unnerved her, and now she was so angry. What was going on? Just then the door opened and John Casey walked in looking a little disheveled but otherwise healthy – why was he here?

"Jeez would you put a cork in it Walker? I can hear you half way down the hall." Casey smiled at Ellie, "How's the patient Doc? Will it leave a scar?"

"John? What's going on?" Ellie couldn't take his casual attitude, it bothered her even more than Sarah's.

"What the hell? You didn't give her the short and sweet Walker?"

"Ellie didn't seem to want to talk to me, besides I can only handle one Bartowski at a time. Hey, here's an idea – trade you." Sarah gave Chuck a cold and evil look.

"Whoa, whoa Sarah, let's not go crazy here." Chuck knew how bad it was now, Defcon 4. He had to do damage control. "You know Casey's not my type."

"Got to agree with Bartowski there Walker." Casey smirked, "I'm not going to start sleeping with your boyfriend just because you're ready to move on to greener pastures."

"Casey, my sister is in the room."

"Sorry Ellie, just a stupid joke."

"Someone tell me what the hell is going on NOW." Ellie put her hands to her mouth and started crying, "I just need to know what's going on."

Casey looked at Chuck and Sarah and realized they'd picked him for the job. He cursed softly to himself then turned to look back at Ellie .

"Ellie, sit down because this is going to take a minute." Casey guided her into the nearest chair. "Sarah, Chuck, and I work for the US Government. I work for the NSA. Sarah works for the CIA, and so does Chuck. We're part of a...team, an interagency team, stationed here in LA. We handle special threats to national security. That's what we've been doing now for the last two years."

"So you're all spies?" Ellie started to giggle. "And Chuck is a spy? Really? This has to be some kind of sick joke." Ellie's giggle had turned to manic anger. "Sarah a spy? She works at a yogurt store for Christ's sake! And Chuck's my baby brother, I've known him is whole life, when did he have time to become a spy?"

"Ellie, it happened a couple of years ago, right after my twenty-seventh birthday. Right around the time Sarah came into my life." Chuck saw the look in her eyes. "Didn't you think it was odd that a guy like me could get a girl like Sarah? I mean, we're not even remotely in the same league but she's suddenly there, in love with me."

"Nice try Chuck, but your still on the couch." Sarah's expression softened, and her hand gently caressed his forearm. "And I'm the one that's not in your league."

"Then you two aren't really...?"

"No, they're really together Ellie." Casey snorted. "Took Bartowski long enough to close the deal, but they've been the real thing for the past seven months or so."

"Nine months this Wednesday Casey." Chuck grinned up at Sarah as he gently rested his hand on hers.

"You remembered?" Sarah's eyes started to well up.

"Oh crap. Here come the water works." Casey looked at Ellie who was still trying to take it all in. "Here's the short and sweet version Ellie. Your brother came into possession of some sensitive information a couple of years ago. We were sent out here to find out who he was and deal with the situation. Sarah found him first and discovered he wasn't such a bad guy, also he has a unique gift when it comes to processing intelligence data. Since that time the NSA and CIA have worked together to utilize his gift and protect the nation. He's done a lot of good in that time Ellie, believe me when I say that your brother is a real hero."

"So why are you telling me this now? I mean, you've been keeping it from me for so long. Why not keep lying to me about it?" Ellie glared at Chuck.

"Because we had to Ellie. Because you saw him in action, and you heard someone addressing him by his cover identity. The minute you didn't get off that bus like he asked you to, you became a threat to Chuck, to us, and to National Security." Casey watched as the light in Ellie's eyes died. "This isn't a game Ellie. We had two options, bring you on board or deal with the threat you represented. Chuck made sure a long time ago that General Beckman and Director Harriman knew that if it ever happened, option two wasn't on the table."

"You're saying...you're saying you would have killed me?" Ellie was in shock, "Chuck, what's going on? Why is he saying these things? How could this be happening?"

"Relax Sis, no one is going to hurt you, ever. I won't let them, and neither will Sarah or Casey." He put his hand on her shoulder and as she collapsed into him he hugged his sister. "It's going to be Okay Ellie. Nothing really changes for you, Sarah can explain the rest to you, she's really the one who thought this through."

Ellie looked at Sarah with tear swollen eyes, "You're to blame for all this? You?!"

"Ellie, I realize I'm not your favorite person right now and I'm sorry." Sarah let her go, her voice softened. "But this is the best thing for everyone. When Chuck came on board as a fulltime analyst seven months ago I realized that eventually you or Devon would find out what was going on. That's when I suggested to Casey that we contact our bosses and arrange for you to be brought into the fold if that happened."

"What if we don't want to be a part of this? What if Chuck wants to leave, will you kill us? Kill him?"

"Casey's right Ellie, this isn't a game. There are people out there that want to hurt your brother, and they'll go through you to get at him. Casey and I work with Chuck but in different capacities. I am his handler – that means I'm directly responsible for him at all times. Casey is the security detail, he handles threats to Chuck and our mission. If you were seen as a threat to Chuck there would be only two things that could happen, you could be relocated to a secured facility for the duration of his employment or you'd just disappear."

"Sarah, stop it. You're scaring her." Chuck's voice was pleading and he saw Ellie look at him in shock.

"I hope so Chuck, God I hope so because this isn't a joke." Sarah turned back to Ellie and locked eyes with the stunned woman. "Ellie, the people we deal with are brutal, and they don't care who gets hurt as long as they get what they need. As bad as you think we are, as much as you hate me righ now, the only reason we're talking is because we aren't like them. Ellie, losing you would devastate Chuck and me, and I've already said that protecting him is my priority – I won't let them get to him or you, you have my word on that. They'd have to kill me first."

"What do you need me to do?" Ellie sounded defeated.

"When we leave here we're going to a secured facility, you'll get a chance to rest. Chuck and I will go back to your house get Devon. The two of you will be formally debriefed, you'll get to meet General Beckman and Director Harriman. There'll be a lot of paperwork to sign and it's over. The two of you will be assigned an agent to act as your handler and life will go on as normal as possible."

"Will we be expected to do...like Chuck? I mean, I don't know what he does, what will we have to do?"

"You're doctors, you'll be expected to be doctors." Sarah smiled and patted Ellie on the arm. "Relax El, we're not going to have you going on missions, but next time Chuck decides he really is Charles Carmichael, super spy, you'll be there to patch him up and he won't have to lie about what happened."

Ellie looked at Sarah and could feel her world slipping away, "I need some air." And she slipped out of the room.

"Casey?"

"I'm on it Walker." Casey followed Ellie out of the room.

"So how do you think that went?" Sarah reached for Chuck's hand.

"Could have been better," Chuck smiled up at her. "But I imagined much worse. I'd say it's a wash, but Ellie's strong. She'll come around."

"I hope so. I just don't want her to hate me." Sarah's eyes began to well up with tears. "I really love her Chuck and I know she hates me now."

"Shh. It'll be okay Sarah. I love you and Ellie will realize what you've done for her and you'll be back together as thick as thieves in no time." He chucked her chin with his finger.

"Ok, you're off the couch but you're still cut off mister." Sarah kissed him on the forehead and hugged him tightly.

"Really? I think the odds are better than fifty-fifty you're wrong." He pulled her face down to his own and kissed her passionately. It was worth the pain of every pulled stitch.

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Ellie looked at them through the observation window. Was she his girlfriend or his handler? Was this real or another lie? What should she believe? She studiously ignored Casey as he came over to her.

"You know what you're looking at there Ellie?"

"No. What?"

"The worst kept secret in the whole intelligence community. The great love affair between Sarah Walker and Chuck Bartowski. It's so damn sweet it'll give you diabetes if you're around it too long."

"Not much of a romantic are you John?"

"Not much point in this business Ellie. Agents are taught that emotions are a weakness and personal entanglements are a liability. You compartmentalize, shutdown, avoid things like this. We're taught to sever all personal connections, no friends, no family, just the mission."

"That sounds like a lonely life." Ellie looked at him with sadness in her eyes. "Why do you do it?"

"To be part of something bigger than yourself, to serve the greater good." Casey spoke to Ellie like an adult explaining something to a small child. "Ellie, we choose this life, a life of sacrifice, long hours, and mortal danger, to make sure that good and decent people don't have to."

"What about Chuck? He's a good and decent man. Why him?"

"Chuck didn't start out wanting this, but he found a reason to stay." Casey nodded toward the window, "You know that seven months ago he was given the option of leaving? No questions asked, Director Harriman was going to let him walk away from it all. He chose to stay in this life."

"Its all about her isn't it? She's got her claws into him and he's going to get killed someday because of her." The venom dripped off Ellie's voice.

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"What do you mean it wouldn't be the first time?"

"I can't tell you everything, but about eight and a half months ago we went up against some anarcho-terrorists. The leader of the gang was someone we'd tangled with before and he had a personal grudge against Chuck. At one point I was incapacitated and Sarah was captured...the leader used her phone to send Chuck a video of Sarah being beaten and tortured."

"My God! What did he do?"

"He went in after her himself." Casey watched the blood drain from Ellie's face.

"That's why he had those bruises, the cuts, the concussion, the bruised kidneys!" The look of shock turned to anger, "I'm going to kill him."

"That's what Walker said when he showed up to rescue her. But you know something Ellie? He did it. He took them down and got her out of there all by himself. He died on the way to the hospital though, we lost him for 33 seconds."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ellie could barely choke out the words through her tears.

"Because I want you to understand what you are seeing Ellie. Chuck didn't stay in the CIA because Sarah wanted him to, just the opposite. She wanted him to leave and have a chance at a normal life. Sarah loves him Ellie, unconditionally and utterly. No, Chuck stayed with the CIA because he's found that once you have someone worth dying for, you can't wait to live the rest of your life with them."

Ellie stood their in silence with John Casey standing quietly beside her. She looked again through the observation window. Chuck and Sarah are standing closely, holding hands, soft kisses and lingering touches spoke of their passion for one another. Ellie processes what she had learned that day. about the life Chuck has chosen, about the woman she thought of as a sister. It frightens her, they frighten her. Then she thinks Sarah and realizes for the first time that if she forced Chuck to choose between them she would lose. Ellie is at once happy and afraid. This is not the life she would have chosen for him, but she'd said all along that he and Sarah were meant to be together. Guess she was right after all, she looks at them again and smiles, perhaps this was meant to be.

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_A/N Feedback always welcome._


	2. Chapter 2: A Matter of Trust

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**Disclaimer: **Unfortunately I don't own nor am I involved with the production of Chuck. On the plus side, I work cheap so if Chris or Josh is reading this - call me.

**Synopsis**: It's been less than a month since Doctor Ellie Woodcombe discovered her brother and his girlfriend were in fact spies working for the CIA. Now a chance encounter, a mission gone wrong, and a near fatal injury conspire to test their limits and bring forth questions of trust.

_A/N: Adult language and situations apply._

**Chuck versus Scenes from a Movie - Chapter Two – A Matter of Trust**

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***Three Days Ago 6:19 PM***

Casey wove the bullet ridden van in and out of traffic, the hospital was just up ahead. He could hear Chuck talking quietly, reassuringly, to Sarah and that bothered him, the kid was acting like Walker was on the way to checking out. Chuck had gone cold since Sarah went down, even after getting shot himself he'd been almost robotic. Casey had seen it before, an agent pushed too far only to snap and lose it all, he worried now what would happen if she didn't make it. Losing one agent could mean losing two. He punched the gas to make sure that didn't happen.

"Chuck, we're here get the doors!"

Casey watched Chuck spring into action, the side doors to the van flew open and he immediately assumed command of the orderlies, directing them as they transferred Sarah to the gurney. He looked as if he'd follow them until Devon showed up to take over. Chuck rattled off her stats and condition to the young doctor and despite his assurances that she'd be fine he followed them down the hall toward the trauma center until Casey caught up with him.

"C'mon Chuck, let's go. We need to get you looked at too." Casey grabbed the younger man by the shoulders and tried to steer him down the hall to the emergency room entrance.

"I'm fine Casey, let me just make sure Sarah gets into surgery first. Okay?" He shrugged off Casey's hands, barely aware of his surroundings he stumbled after Sarah's gurney that had already disappeared down the hallway.

"Chuck you're not fine. You were shot too. They don't look serious but your running on adrenalin now. We need to get you patched up. " Casey grabbed his arm and squeezed hard. "For Sarah."

Chuck looked at the big man, a blank expression on his face, and docilely allowed himself to be lead into the hospital. They hadn't gotten far before Ellie came running up to them. Casey saw her face blanche when she saw him. Chuck's hair, normally a wild mass of dark brown curls, had become matted with blood from a scalp laceration, and the blood flowed down his face and neck. Likewise there was a copious amount of blood staining Chuck's shirt, hands and arms, turning his white shirt crimson and making him look a living Wes Craven nightmare.

"Oh God Chuck, the blood." Ellie ran to him. "Are you hurt?"

"It's Sarah's." Chuck gave her a cold, expressionless stare.

"Chuck, I-I'm sorry."

"Ellie, we need to get him checked out. He's got a nasty cut on his head and he caught two rounds," Casey helped steer Chuck toward one of the exam rooms. "Armor piercing rounds, they managed to penetrate his vest. The only good news is the exit wounds indicate they're through and throughs, but he's lost some blood."

"Thanks for everything John, but I'll take it from here okay?" Ellie had slipped into her professional medical persona. "I need two suture kits and a couple units of plasma in exam three." She shouted at an orderly.

"I have to stay with him Ellie." John laid a hand on her shoulder, "He's my responsibility too."

Ellie gave Casey a sidelong look then nodded. She had him help Chuck up onto the table and stripped his shirt off then remove the body armor beneath it. Ellie gasped when she saw the right side of his chest, one wound was an obvious graze where the bullet had skipped along a seam in the Kevlar, but the other bullet had made a clean penetration two inches in from his side and just below the seventh rib. It had avoided the major organs but the wound itself wasn't looking too good. She inserted the an IV feed for a unit of plasma and started stitching up the graze wound. When she was done she looked at the second, more serious gun shot wound.

"This isn't good." Ellie palpated the area around the exit.

"What's wrong?"

"This GSW, it's not a clean wound, the exit is too small." Ellie carefully placed a temporary bandage over that wound. "That means there are fragments inside his chest cavity." She put her hand on Chuck's cheek. "Chuck, honey, we're going to have to prep you for surgery. Okay?"

"No." Chuck looked at her, it was a hard, cold look.

Ellie shook her head, he was in shock she told herself. "Honey we have to operate." She looked past him to Casey. "John, we can't take those fragments out while he's awake."

"Lidocaine." Chuck spoke the word like a simple command.

"What are you saying Chuck?" Casey gave him a hard look.

"You've got Lidocaine, use it." He snapped at Ellie. "Give me a local. Ice the area with Lidocaine and then dig them out. Do what you have to but I'm not going under until I know Sarah's ok."

"John, talk to him." Ellie looked to Casey expecting his support. She didn't get it.

Casey and Chuck locked eyes for a second then Casey nodded to him. Casey turned to Ellie now, his face as hard as stone. "You heard the man Dr Woodcombe, do it."

Ellie shook her head to hold back the tears as she sent Chuck and Casey to x-ray. She began prepping the exam room for what she hoped would be a simple procedure. The work was routine, something she'd done so often before that she found it liberating in the way it let her mind focus on other things. Right now she was focused on Chuck, and wondering about his coldness toward her. _'He was in shock,' she thought, 'that had to be it, it was just his reaction to seeing Sarah shot...but if it was just shock why did he seem so angry with me? It's almost as if he blamed me for Sarah's injuries.'_ Ellie shook her head again then, because she was worried that she already knew the answer.

In the month since she and her husband Devon had been 'recruited' by the CIA against their will, there'd been a noticeable amount of tension between Ellie and Sarah. For her part Sarah did her best to always be friendly, smiling and supportive. In short she tried to be the same Sarah that Ellie had let into her heart and their family over the last two years. Ellie was not as kind. Since getting the news that her brother and Sarah were working for the CIA, she'd found herself filled with contempt for the woman she thought she knew. It had gotten so bad that Chuck and Devon even attempted to stage an intervention with her that morning, pointing out that she was unreasonably blaming Sarah for all manner of wrongs and misdeeds, both real and imagined, that had gone unexplained for the past two years even thought they had nothing to do with her.

Ellie groaned inwardly. She'd wronged the woman, she knew that. They'd been friends for the last two years and she truly considered her to be family, Ellie wouldn't be so upset with her otherwise, but every time she tried to address the issues between them something came up. Running into her at the Tamarind Room last night had definitely not improved the situation but it had definitely given her a different perspective on everything. She turned back to her work and made a silent vow to ask Sarah to forgive her and to work on repairing the damage to their relationship, for Chuck's sake if nothing else. Ellie felt the ghost of a smile cross her lips and her heart grew a little lighter because part of her knew that she was doing this as much for herself as she was for her brother.

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***Five Days Ago – The Castle – 6:59 PM***

Casey handed out information packets containing daily briefing from General Beckman and Deputy Director Harriman. It was the standard intel briefing packet for the Intersect to go through, a little thinner than normal actually, but it came with something they hadn't had in over two weeks, an honest to God mission.

"Right, now that we've got the daily crap out of the way I've got a treat for us." Casey smiled, "We've got some intel from an LAPD undercover officer working inside the Longo Street Kings gang has discovered a link to the Armenian Mob. Seems the Armenians are doing a bit of money laundering and overseas distribution for the Kings drug operation."

"Okay, that's bad but how does that involve us?" Chuck asked. "Sounds like its' more DEA/FBI territory to me."

Casey and Sarah both shot him a puzzling look, but Casey addressed him. "Normally that would be the case, but the FBI has tried and failed to penetrate the Armenian mob twice and both undercover operatives turned up missing. The DEA did get someone close to Jose Calderón in the Kings organization, but they see the Armenians as strictly FBI territory. That makes this operation a pickup for our team. It's strictly optional Chuck, you're still the SFO I was just assuming you wouldn't refuse it."

"Chuck, is there something going on, some reason you're not interested in this mission?" Sarah cocked an eyebrow at him.

"No, it's just..." He sighed, " It's nothing. So a real mission? Tell me more." He put on his best fake smile and feigned enthusiasm.

Sarah stared at him for a few seconds, there was something he definitely wasn't telling her and yet she could tell from his tone, his body language, he wasn't ready to share it with her right now. _'Later Mr Bartowski,' she thought, 'Later we will have a long talk about whatever's bothering you.'_

Casey continued the briefing, "Okay people, the mark is one John Kezerian, son of Paul Kezerian the patriarch of the Armenian Mob in South Los Angeles. John Kezerian is also known as Johnny One Note because of his multiple aggravated assault convictions, seven times in the last five years."

"Aggravated assault? He's not much of a bad guy is he?" Chuck shot a smug look at Casey.

"Aggravated assault is what he was convicted of, he was arrested for aggravated sexual assault, rape, and sodomy." Casey's voice had dropped to a dangerously low level. "The guys a first class sleaze bag with a good lawyer."

"Wait, this guy is a serial rapist and Sarah has to get close to him? Oh hell no." Chuck's face was red and getting redder. "That is not going to happen."

"Chuck I'll be okay." Sarah tried to reassure him. "Seriously, he'll never get a chance to do anything."

"Sarah, no." Chuck shook his head. "We've been over this before. I know getting close to a mark is part of your job, I've even found it within me to accept that and deal with it when you have to make that sacrifice, but this isn't a normal mark. The guys a rapist Sarah."

"Chuck..." Sarah tried to reassure him only to be interrupted by Casey.

"Chuck, Walker's a big girl." Casey tried to reassure him. "She can handle this guy if it comes to it, and we'll be listening in – if he so much as lifts a finger against her we'll be on his ass in a heartbeat."

"Right, let me ask you something Casey," Chuck gave him a hard look. "If Ilsa was still alive would you let her do it?"

"CHUCK!" Sarah's shout pierced the air, as she grabbed his shoulder. A look of shock crossed her face when he pushed her hand away.

"I'm waiting for an answer Casey." Chuck's eyes were burning into Casey's.

"No." he croaked. "No I wouldn't. Then again, I'd let her make up her own mind because I'm man enough to admit I don't always know best."

Casey stood there for a second longer then turned toward the stairs leaving the Castle. Chuck turned away from him and went back to the open files they had on the mark and their mission. Sarah stood their gawking at him until she finally had enough.

"You jackass!" She stormed off after Casey, intent on catching him before he left the Orange Orange.

Chuck said nothing, but continued to work for a few more minutes. He'd already come to the realization that Casey was right, and so was Sarah. He should be man enough to trust her judgment, to let her gauge if it's a job she can handle and they would be monitoring the situation the entire time. What really bothered him was what he'd said to Casey, he had in fact been a complete and utter jackass to the man and bringing up Ilsa was about as low as he could go in that regard. It was just that, of all the things they asked him to do watching Sarah get close to a mark still rankled him the most, even thought they'd reached an accommodation on that point it still got to him. Then again this wasn't just any mark, no this one was a serial rapist. Toss in the fact that he had special plans for her that he'd have to cancel now and it was all just too much for him to stomach. He sat down heavily, his head in his hands. He knew he'd have to talk to Casey, once Sarah got done with him that is, he just didn't know what he was going to say to make it up to him for bringing up Ilsa.

*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

***Five Days Ago – The Orange Orange – 7:21 PM***

Sarah heard the door to the Castle close behind her and she bolted out of the store room hoping to catch Casey before he made it to his car. She was surprised when she nearly ran into him standing there behind the counter, making a dish of frozen cherry yogurt with chocolate sprinkles, Astrid minding the counter but studiously ignoring him. She shook her head, he was hurting and she couldn't believe that Chuck was such an unmitigated ass.

"Astrid, could we get a couple of sodas?" Sarah smiled at the young analyst working behind the counter as she sighed and wordlessly started drawing two diet cokes for her and Casey. "C'mon John, sit with me."

Casey moved silently to a table in the back of the store, sitting with his back to the wall he dug in to the dish of frozen yogurt. Sarah approached silently with two sodas, sat one down in front of Casey then pulled up a chair.

"Save it Walker." Casey shoveled a large spoonful of frozen creamery goodness into his mouth, only to have a pained expression furrow his brow.

"John, I'm sorry about that. I don't know what got into Chuck down there." Sarah put a hand on his forearm and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't apologize for him Sarah. What happened is between Chuck and me, and honestly? I don't blame him." Casey took a sip of soda then looked at Sarah. "If I'd had his guts ten years ago Ilsa and Marie would be alive today. I can't fault him for wanting to avoid ending up like me...I really can't."

"Don't say that Casey, you can't blame yourself for what happened. It was an accident, it could have happened even if you'd put her above your career." She let the emotions she was feeling come out. "Chuck had no right to use that against you John, I just can't tell you how sorry I am that he did that."

"You don't get it Sarah, I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for him. I owe him too much to..." Casey stopped and began swirling the yogurt around in his bowl absent mindedly. "Like I said this is between him and me, we'll deal with it."

"Do you want me to leave Casey?" Sarah wasn't sure what to do. They'd been partners for the last two years and as close as they'd become she'd never been able to reach him on a personal level. Even when Ilsa and Marie had died in the plane crash the only person he would talk to was Chuck.

"No Walker, just don't talk." He gave her a look, it was almost a sad little smile, almost.

Casey turned his attention back to the yogurt with renewed vigor, enjoying the silent company of his partner. His thoughts turned to Ilsa, the only woman he'd ever loved, and Marie, the daughter he'd never known. Despite the overwhelming sadness within his heart his emotional control was complete. The small almost smile he gave Walker was for her benefit, not an example of what he really felt. If he were the emotional type like Chuck he'd have busted up the furniture, torn his shirt off in grief and ended up drunk on the beach howling at the moon. He grunted, that was in fact a fairly accurate description of how Chuck had found him six months ago after he had ID'd their bodies. Casey nearly choked on his soda as he recalled the morgue, Ilsa still looking as beautiful as the last day he'd seen her, and Marie who so looked like her mother. She was just six months old but so perfect in every detail. Casey never knew you could miss something so badly, especially something you'd never even had, until that day. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs. At least he had his work, a good partner, and one true friend.

Chuck Bartowski, his one true friend. Twenty six years in this business and in all that time there was only one person he trusted without question. He grunted again, the faintest smile on his lips as he looked at Walker, sitting there all doe eyed and trying to comfort him. It took him long enough but he'd finally understood how a hardened agent like her could let herself become compromised with him. God help him he actually liked the kid, not only liked him but he hadn't lied to Walker, he owed him everything. There were only three people that knew the whole story about what happened after Ilsa's funeral: Casey, Chuck, and Director Harriman. He still wasn't sure how he'd avoided court martial or reassignment, but somehow Chuck had a managed to convince a Deputy Director of the CIA to back him up against Beckman. Not that it surprised Casey all that much. In addition to himself and Walker he could think of at least a dozen other agents within the NSA, CIA and a host of organizations, foreign and domestic, that were so personally attached to the man they'd be considered compromised if their superiors knew. He paused to consider that thought. In another three or four years Bartowski would be a bigger threat to the NSA and CIA than Fulcrum. He took a drink of his soda. They'd cross that bridge when the time came.

He grimaced inwardly. He was already making plans to protect the kid from threats that wouldn't be around for years. How had it come to this? Casey knew the answer to that question before he'd even asked it. His life had never been his own, not since the day he joined the air force. The difference now was that his life belonged to Chuck and it had since that day six months ago. That day when Chuck found him on the beach, mad with grief over the loss of a family he'd never had, an empty bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and his .45 in the other. He was standing at the edge of the surf, towering over two beaten, bound, and scared shitless Santa Monica police officers that had tried to take him in for public intoxication. Casey was threatening to kill them if they didn't bring Ilsa to him right then and there. He was beyond reason, and yet somehow Chuck reached him. Somehow Chuck made it all go away. No charges, no court martial, he didn't even know how they got back to his apartment. Chuck never asked for anything from Casey, he would say he did it as a friend and that it would remain between them for as long as Casey wanted it to. He hadn't even told Walker, and that meant something to him. That meant he could trust him. It didn't matter, Casey knew. He knew that from there on out what he had was a borrowed life, borrowed because Chuck Bartowski took what he'd discarded and gave it back to him as a second chance. To Casey that meant if the guy was feeling emotional and needed to unload on him, even if it was a cheap dirty shot like bringing up Ilsa, then by God that was his prerogative. Casey finished the soda and looked up at Walker. It had been almost fifteen minutes since they'd sat down, more than enough time for her to think she'd done some good.

"I'm out of here Walker, thanks for sitting with me." Casey got up and started to pick up his trash.

"Leave it Casey, I'll take care of it." Sarah gave him a smile.

"Thanks Sarah, and do me a favor?" Casey saw her expression lighten, "Go easy on him."

Casey walked out of the Orange Orange with a heavy head, and made his way to the Crown Vic. Sarah watched until he pulled away. She stared at the trash on the table, sure that she could have done more for her partner. She didn't know what had crawled up Chuck's ass but she couldn't believe the man she loved for his sensitive and caring nature could possibly have been so damned cruel to say what did. Sarah knew he didn't want this mission, but he hadn't refused it outright either even though that was his right as the SFO. That meant it had to be the seduction, but that didn't make sense either. When they started dating he made her a promise to respect her decision regarding missions that required her to seduce a mark as long as she'd respect his right to veto those that he deemed too damaging to their relationship. He hadn't vetoed a mission yet and it wasn't like she'd avoided using her skills when it benefited them. So why was he now turning into a right bastard and unloading on Casey? Something was up and she intended to find out what it was.

*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

***Five Days Ago – The Castle – 7:43 PM***

Sarah walked down the steps into the Castle, Chuck remained where she'd left him with the information on their new mission spread around the table and engrossed in reading. She shook her head sadly, he was such a wonderful man and so often giving of himself above and beyond what anyone had a right to ask of him, and yet what he'd said to Casey shocked her. He was better than that, something was bothering him and she'd be damned if he was going to shut her out now like he had earlier. She walked up behind him, unable to resist letting her fingers run through his hair, playing with his curls. He sighed and she felt him relax under her touch, he let his head lift up from the pages of text then and when she thought he'd just about given himself over to her she grabbed hard and yanked his head back.

"Ow! Jeez Sarah!" Chuck yelped "What the fuck?"

"Sorry honey," She smiled sweetly but didn't loosen her grip, "but imagine my surprise to witness the sweetest man in the world being a total bastard to one of his best friends?"

"I know, I know, I'm a jackass." Chuck tried to give her a smile, he failed miserably.

"And you're going to fix this?" Sarah's eyes sparkled, there was only one correct answer.

"Yes honey, I'm going to fix this. I'll stop by his place tonight." Chuck reached up and grasped her wrist gently, but firmly, and slowly untwisted her from his hair. Turning to look at her he finally managed a wan smile. "Seriously, as soon as I said it I knew I'd screwed up, I just...I wasn't thinking and it kind of came out of me."

"But why Chuck?" She shook her head in disappointment. "Look, I won't pretend to understand your relationship with Casey, I know you two have your secrets..."

"We have his secrets Sarah. You know I don't want to keep anything from you, I trust you totally and I want you to know you can trust me. Heck I'd tell you right now if I could, but I won't betray his confidence." His tone was firm and sincere.

She smiled, carefully tucking a stray curl behind his ear. "Now that's the Chuck I fell in love with, the man I know I can trust and depend on," the warmth and admiration for him were evident in her voice. "the man that could turn a cold school killer like John Casey into a friend. Just don't let whatever's bothering you now make you into someone your not Chuck, please?"

He let out a breath and took in the sight of her, even now, after over two years together, after more than nine moths of dating she could still floor him with just a word, a look, a smile. He'd felt like a jackass before, he'd intended to make it up to Casey, but he hadn't realized just how low and cheap he'd been. Now he really needed to do something to prove himself to her.

"You got it Sarah" he took her hands in his, and leaned in giving her a gentle kiss on the lips, "and thanks."

"One more thing Chuck," she gives him a look, "what's bothering you about this mission, really?"

"The man's a serial rapist, isn't that enough?" He sounded puzzled by her question..

"No. There's something else, something your not telling me." She searches his eyes for an answer. "It's an optional assignment, you can refuse this one and no one would say anything about it, but you didn't. So what aren't you telling me?"

"I'd rather not say now," He watches her eyes cloud over but he grins, trying to buoy her spirits. "but I promise all will become clear in two days. Trust me?"

"Always Chuck" Sarah smiles and kisses him back. "Always."

*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

***Three Days Ago 9:17 PM***

Ellie welcomed them back from x-ray, smiled at Casey as he helped Chuck up onto the exam table. She injected the local anesthetic in and around the gun shot wounds and then set about quietly prepping him. She re-inserted the IV and hooked up a second unit of plasma, then looked at the x-ray and began extracting the slug fragments which luckily proved to be close to the surface. Chuck sat silently though out the process, the only sign of discomfort an occasional twinge in his face. Once she'd started stitching up the wound she gave Chuck a sideways glance.

"I checked on Sarah for you." She noticed immediately the coldness in his face soften. "She's in recovery now. Devon was scrubbing in for another surgery but the resident who observed said that the prognosis was good: no vital organs were hit. Her blood loss was severe due to a nicked artery but Devon was able to remove the bullets and repair all of the damage with minimal scarring. He was sure she's going to be fine and you'll be able to look in on her when we're done here."

"Thanks Sis."

Chuck's eyes had started to water, his voice cracked as he spoke but he steeled his face again, only this time she could tell he wasn't shutting down emotionally, this time she could see the gratitude and sadness in his eyes. Ellie finished closing the wound and noticed he was starting to pinch his face into a grimace as she put the last stitches in. The Lidocaine was wearing off so Ellie injected him again then handed him a bottle of pills.

"I gave you an injection of Novocain." She saw John's eyes go round but kept her tone completely professional. "It's not standard procedure but it lasts longer than Lidocaine and has fewer drug interaction problems. Those are Vicodin, take two now and one every four hours for the next few days. I'll take your stitches out in a week if you behave yourself, just be careful not to get them wet, okay little brother?"

"Can I see Sarah now?" Chuck's voice was strained but he managed a smile.

"Let me check and see if she's ready for visitors, if not you can at least look in on her." Ellie gave his arm a squeeze and smiled back at him.

Casey waited until Ellie had left the room then turned on Chuck. "You better now Chuck? I mean for a while there I thought you were losing it. You were treating Ellie like she was the enemy and not your sister."

"It's just that..." Chuck looked at Casey with tears in his eyes, "I think she's why we got ambushed, I think what happened at the Tamarind Room is why..."

"What the hell are you talking about?" the look on his face unnerved Casey.

"It was an ambush. Kezerian's men were waiting for us, they knew we were coming." Chuck's eyes narrowed.

"So you think that somehow..." Casey let his statement hanging, not sure what Chuck was driving at.

"We thought Sarah had it handled last night but we were wrong." Chuck's face got hot. "Ellie's need to interfere in my life screwed our op and compromised Sarah's cover. The bugs Sarah planted? I'm guessing they must have found them and used those to set us up for the ambush." Chuck let out a deep sigh and his shoulders slumped. "I'm going to have to tell Beckman and Harriman about this."

"Hang on Chuck, you know what Beckman will say." Casey growled warily. "Walker was nearly killed, you were shot up, she'll want to relocate Ellie and Devon to a secured facility. Hell, I know you and Harriman are tight but she'll probably insist on it as well. You can't tell me you'd be okay with that?"

"I don't know Casey, maybe it would be for the best." Chuck gave him a tired smile, "She'd be safe and so would we. No more lies, no more hurt feelings, it's just...it's just I can't live with feeling this anymore." He started to tear up. "I love her Casey, she's my sister, but God help me when Sarah got shot I blamed her, I blamed Ellie."

"You're tired and emotional right now, you're not yourself. Shipping her out isn't the answer Chuck, you know that. You know that it would destroy you, kill Sarah, and we aren't going to let that happen." Casey out a gentle hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Chuck, you're a better man than that. You know Ellie, whatever her feelings toward Sarah right now, you know she'd die for either of you. Listen to me. shit happens. Missions get blown all the time and this one was no different."

Chuck looked up at him, his eyes were red but the tears had stopped. He nodded at Casey, "So why does this one feel different."

"Guilt. Doubt. Take your pick. I'm betting it's both." He gave Chuck a look and the young man nodded knowingly. "Look, this mission is making you doubt yourself but that doesn't mean you've got to take drastic action." Casey stood in front of him, commanding his attention. "Chuck, there's something they call the hundred hour mark in tactical response units. See, the guys in tactical response units like the HRT or SWAT, they undergo intensive training to deal with specific situations like rescuing hostages, or clearing a building of hostiles. They aren't considered proficient until they've hit the hundred hour mark as shooters, that's when they go out into the field, that's also when they're at their most vulnerable. At the hundred hour mark a tactical officer can make almost any head shot, accomplish almost any five minute training scenario without missing a beat, but they also tend to put too much faith in their skills, they tend to miss the little things, the details. God is a bitch about the details Chuck."

"So I'm at the hundred hour mark." Chuck nodded sadly.

"Exactly. You had a gut feeling that this mission wasn't for us, but you took it anyway. You didn't like Sarah getting close to Kezerian but you let her do it anyway. You knew Ellie had blown the operation but you went forward with it anyway." Casey gave his shoulder a squeeze. "You didn't do anything different that you've done a hundred times before, the only thing is the last ninety-nine times we pulled it off. We've been riding the percentages Chuck, sooner or later something was bound to bite us in the ass."

He pursed his lips. "So when does it get better? How do I come back from this?"

"It doesn't. You don't." Casey saw the horror in his eyes. "Chuck, we take the lessons learned from this, thank God that no one died, and we move on. We'll face the same risks on the next mission, but the difference is you'll be better prepared. You won't make the same mistakes, you won't fail to listen to your gut, and life will go on."

"You're sure of that are you?" He managed a wan smile.

"Over twenty years in this business Chuck, I hit the hundred hour mark a long time ago and I'm not nearly as smart as you are – if I can do it and come through the other side so can you. Trust me."

Chuck smiled at the big man. Casey patted him on the shoulder and then gave him his space. Chuck wasn't really upset with Ellie, he was just in shock because Sarah had nearly died and he was looking to blame someone because he couldn't stand the thought that he was ultimately responsible. He knew that if Chuck did tell their bosses what happened outside the Tamarind Room it would be the end of their team. Chuck would disintegrate without his family around. He'd get him to understand that before briefing Beckman and Harriman. No one was going to a secure location, no one was getting relocated, and no one was going to break up their family, especially not Chuck.

*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

***Four Days Ago – Outside the Tamarind Room – 9:35 PM***

The noise from the other diners and waiters dwindled behind them as they ran. Despite the fact she was in four inch heels and Ellie had a substantial head start, Sarah's cat like grace and natural athleticism allowed her to quickly close the distance between them. Sarah cursed under her breath, Ellie's sudden appearance at the restaurant managed to compromise the mission and her cover, and now the only thing Sarah could do was try and limit the damage the brunette dynamo could cause to both their professional and private lives. In the parking lot, just yards from her car, Sarah finally succeeded in catching up to her friend.

"Ellie, it wasn't what you think! Please, you have to trust me!" Sarah was shouting at her back, but as the words sank in she could see her shoulders slump in frustration. She was unprepared for the sudden verbal assault that came next.

"Trust you? Trust YOU?!" Ellie seethed, the last several weeks of pent-up anger, frustration and hurt from realizing that her brother and best friend had both lied to her for years finally boiled out of her. "How can you ask me to trust you after all the lies you've told me? You're supposed to be with Chuck, protecting Chuck, well who's going to protect him from you?"

"Please Ellie, let me explain." She tried to touch her arm reassuringly but she pulled away and glowered. "Ellie, I love Chuck and he loves me." The look on Ellie's face spoke volumes, irrational hatred and pain. As if on queue Sarah's eyes began to water, "Please, we love each other and believe me when I say he can trust me – I'd never do anything to jeopardize what we have, you don't need to protect Chuck from me."

"So you keep saying, well you'll understand after what I've just seen if I'm a little doubtful. After all you're an expert liar, you lied to me for two years, you even got Chuck to lie to me..." Ellie had cooled down and now her tone was downright frosty. She saw the tears forming on Sarah's face but she didn't trust the woman. "Now you want the benefit of the doubt, okay. Sarah you've got one chance to explain to me why you're in there with your tongue down another man's throat while he's got his hand half way up your dress before I go an tell Chuck what a lying, cheating whore you really are."

"Ellie I want to, God I want to explain this to you but I can't. You weren't supposed to be here, you weren't supposed to see this." Sarah's lower lip began to tremble, a single tear threatened to roll down her cheek. "This was all a misunderstanding. Look, let's just go home and I'll explain it all on the way." She tried to maneuver Ellie toward her Porsche which was situated just a few feet away.

Ellie realized what Sarah was doing and began backing away carefully toward her Prius. She was careful, the car was another thirty feet off and though she was reasonably sure she could outrun the Agent in heels, she wasn't positive. "Listen Sarah, I understand you and my brother are supposed to be some sort of epic love story in the whole spy community, but all I see are two people who spent the first fifteen months lying about having a relationship and then when one of them looks like he's about to fly the coop you conveniently fall in love."

"Ellie, it was never like that with us. Please, let me drive you home. I promise, I'll tell you everything once we get home." Sarah moved slowly, taking a few more steps toward Ellie, and putting her in line to cut off her escape path to the Prius.

Ellie and Sarah shared an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, then Sarah realized their luck had run out. Her mark was there, he'd made it to the parking lot in search of her and now Sarah had no choice. She switched back to her CIA Agent persona, relying on her training to compartmentalize her feelings, lock down her emotions, regain control of a situation that was rapidly slipping away from her. Ellie watched as all trace of turmoil disappeared from Sarah's face and instead a look of wanton lust came over her. She watched in morbid fascination as the blond CIA agent turned toward the man who'd just come upon them in the parking lot. Ellie saw a nicely dressed man - Armani suit, Gucci loafers, open necked shirt and a lot of gold jewelry - in his early forties with dark brown hair that was graying slightly at the temples. His penetrating grey eyes seemed to look right through them.

"Johnny!" Sarah's voice was a full octave higher than before, "I was just talking to my girlfriend Ells, I told you I'd be back baby." Sarah cooed as she sauntered toward the man.

"So aren't you gonna introduce me to your girlfriend Celeste?" A greasy smile appeared on Johnny's face, it made Ellie's skin crawl. "She's quite the looker, maybe she could join us."

"Sure Johnny, sure." Sarah's fingers danced playfully along his chest, wrapping themselves around the gold chains that hung from his neck. She started to lead him toward Ellie then spun on the ball of her foot and stopped him with the palm of her hand against his chest. "Hang here baby, let me talk to her one on one, she's kinda shy until she gets to know you, but once she does she can really open up." Sarah gave him a knowing wink and then turned back toward Ellie.

She watched in morbid fascination as the CIA agent moved toward her with a sudden predatory nature. It was as if she'd flipped a switch and somehow amped up her natural sexual charisma. Ellie noticed now that it hadn't been the light in the restaurant, Sarah's hair was actually tinted strawberry blonde and it looked positively stunning with the short green silk dress she wore, especially now that the dress seemed to be struggling to hang onto her body as she slinked toward Ellie. The provocative manner in which she moved was having a strange effect on her, it was alluring, almost hypnotic. Ellie had never really thought of Sarah that way before but now...

"Ells baby" Sarah slid her hands up Ellie's arms and gave her a close hug, whispering in her ear, _'This is a mission Ellie, whatever I ask make an excuse that you have to take off, then get in my Porsche and go home.'_ Then Sarah pulled back just enough to plant a warm, sensuous kiss on her lips with just a hint of tongue. The kiss lasted only a couple of seconds but it was enough to make Ellie gasp, and Sarah's hands slid down her arms raising goose flesh along the way until they were holding hands and suddenly Ellie felt something cold and metallic in her left hand. "So Johnny here is a _big_ player baby, I mean he's more man that I can handle all by my lonesome. What say we have ourselves a little party like old times?"

"Celeste, baby, you know I'd love to join you but I've got Dev and Chaz waiting for me, it's not like I can just say no to my two best boys now can I?" Ellie tried to sell it with a saucy wink, "not even for my best girl." Ellie started toward the Porsche, dangling the keys from her hand and swinging them in time with her hips as she strutted toward the car.

Within the surveillance van two men sat quietly. One was at the wheel of the vehicle ready drive to the rescue of the two women in the parking lot, the other was staring with a mixture of horror and fascination at the monitors. Neither said anything until the Porsche pulled away and Sarah began walking back into the restaurant with the mark. Finally the silence was broken almost simultaneously.

"Gotta admit Bartowski..."

"Casey, my sister and my girlfriend." Chuck said menacingly. "Say another word and I'll be interviewing new partners tomorrow."

"I'm just saying..."

"CASEY!"

There was a moment of silence then in a quiet voice Casey said "I'm betting Devon gets really lucky tonight." The next sound he heard was that of Chuck's head hitting the sound board repeatedly.

*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

***Three Days Ago 11:59 PM***

Sarah could feel a dull throbbing in her abdomen. The last thing she recalled was screaming at Chuck to get down when white hot fire tore into her side. She remembered the look of terror on his face. Then gunshots. Was he shooting a gun? She was worried now. Chuck was a good enough shot at paper targets but he hated guns, hated shooting people. The van? They rode in a van. Chuck was there, she smiled, he was holding her hands and telling her he loved her, she was going to be okay, she smiled.

"chuck?" Sarah's voice was weak, her throat dry from anesthesia.

"I'm here Sarah, I'm right here baby." Chuck held her hand between his own and kissed her cheek. "I'm never leaving you Sarah."

"water?"

Chuck held the glass up to her lips, and maneuvered the straw so she could sip. When she let go of the stray he set the cup down and gingerly dabbed at the drops of water on her lips.

"You're always trying to take care of me." Sarah's weak little smile seemed to light up the room. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"I'm not sure but I think it carries a life sentence." Chuck grinned at her as she started to laugh until the laughs became coughs. "Sarah honey, are you okay? Devon!"

"Right here bro, don't worry." Devon inserted a syringe into Sarah's IV line. "I'm giving her some Ativan to knock her out. Let's let her get some rest, and you can talk to her again in a few hours okay Chuck?"

"Thanks Devon." He looked at his brother-in-law and a thought dawned on him. "Devon, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate everything you've done. This couldn't have been easy for you, the last month I mean, and you've been aces. Seriously, I'm glad we're brothers."

For the first time since he'd known him Devon had nothing to say. Finally he put his hand on Chuck's shoulder. "Chuck buddy, we're family. We do for family right?" Devon saw the acknowledgement in his eyes. "And anyway, I'm proud to call you brother. You and Sarah mean the world to me. Now what say I buy you some coffee 'cause honestly bro, you look like shit."

A few hours later Chuck was in Sarah's hospital bathroom gingerly washing himself with a damp cloth, carefully avoiding his stitches. The resentment he'd felt for his sister had scared him, but talking to Casey helped. He'd never felt anything but love for her before, but the way she'd treated Sarah these last few weeks, that scene outside the Tamarind Room that blew their cover, and now the shooting that came directly out of it...he had so much pain and anger to deal with. He knew it wasn't really Ellie's fault, if it was anyone's it was probably his. He just didn't understand what was wrong with Ellie? Couldn't she see that it hurt him the way she treated Sarah? Couldn't she at least appreciate what Sarah had gone through with Beckman and Harriman on their behalf? He pushed thoughts about it out of his head. There'd be time to deal with the family drama once Sarah was better.

*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

***Two Days Ago 6:11 AM***

Sarah woke to the smells of a hospital room, clean, clinical, antiseptic. She remembered most of it now, she remembered waking up before with Chuck. Devon had given her something when the coughing spasm started, she wondered if that's why he wasn't here now. A sense of dread enveloped her, what if he was injured too? She recalled laying in the van, he was kneeling beside her and Casey was shouting that he was hit. Chuck was hit. Where was her Chuck?

"Hey sleepyhead." Chuck brushed the strands of spun gold from her face, his thumb brushing against her lips, his fingers rested on her cheek. "Have a nice nap."

"Hey baby." Sarah moved her head slightly and kissed the palm of his hand. "I missed you. Everyone ok?"

"Casey's fine, like a brick wall – bullets just bounce off him." Chuck stroked her cheek. "And I'm good too, thanks to you making me wear my vest."

"You were shot, I remember blood."

"Most of that was yours." Chuck forced a smile. "I'm fine Sarah, honest."

"Right. Show me."

"Fine." Chuck wasn't going to argue with her, he lifted his shirt gingerly and exposed the two bandaged wounds. "Ellie handled it, they're flesh wounds. Stitches come out in a week."

"You shot..."

"Yeah, I know. I got shot."

"No, you shot my gun." Sarah's eyes said what she had difficulty saying.

"I'm fine Sarah, don't worry about me. The important thing is you're okay now."

"But you hate shooting people, are you sure your okay?"

"I'm pretty sure I should be asking you that." He smiled. Taking a chair and pulling it closer to her bed, he sat down and took her hand in his. "I'm good Sarah, you're here and those men won't ever hurt you or anyone else again. Trust me on this, I'm good."

"If you say so." She smiled as he kissed her hand. "stay with me?"

"Forever." His smile only grew as he saw the love in her eyes.

A few hours later an orderly came into the room to check on the patient and let the visitor know it was time to leave. He saw Chuck there asleep in the chair, holding Sarah's hand and resting his head near her shoulder. He was about to wake him when Ellie walked in. She took the scene in and realized at once how wrong she'd been about Sarah and him. There was a reason she was the one woman her brother cherished above all else, Ellie smiled at them both. She dismissed the orderly with instructions that her brother was not to be disturbed or removed from the room under any circumstances. Then she took a blanket and went to cover him up in his chair.

Sarah was awake, watching Ellie as she went about taking care of her brother. The sight of them taking care of one another, the love they felt one for the other, was always something special to Sarah. She smiled as Ellie looked at her. "Thank you."

"Sarah, I'm so sorry about before, about...everything." Ellie touched her hand gently.

Sarah searched Ellie's face for a second, "I'm sorry too."

"Sorry for what?"

"For getting you involved in this."

"Don't be."

"Don't be?"

"Don't be. You did what you thought was best to protect my brother and our family. You never need to apologize for that." Ellie fixed her gaze on Sarah. "I'm the one that should apologize Sarah. I've spent the last month resenting you when I should be thanking you for loving my brother so much and for doing this for us. Can you forgive me?"

Sarah shook her head and smiled. "I'll never understand you Bartowskis. El, how could I not forgive you? I never blamed you, I just didn't want you to hate me."

"Oh Sarah, I never hated you I just...I just didn't know what I was feeling. Angry maybe, scared for sure." She smiled at her, "But I was an idiot to take it out on you, you're my best friend and I could never hate you Sarah, I love you as much as I always have. It just took a little something to remind me of what you mean to our family, and to me. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine." Sarah offered a weak laugh, "believe it or not I've been worse."

"See I really, really didn't need to know that." Ellie deadpanned.

"I see where he gets it from."

"What?"

"The Bartowski sense of humour."

"Yep, that's us. If we're not breaking their hearts we're rolling them in the aisles." Ellie grinned at Sarah. It felt good to talk to her like this again. "I told the orderly to leave him alone, so he can stay with you tonight. Now I'm going to go, let Chuck know I stopped by, okay?"

"Sure thing. Thanks Ellie, and thanks for everything. I feel much better now." Sarah smiled as she watched the pretty young doctor leave. Talking to Ellie lifted a weight off her heart, she smiled and gave Chuck's hand a squeeze. "So are you happy now? Ellie and I made up, we're friends again."

Chuck lifted his head slowly and gazed levelly at Sarah. "How did you know I was awake and listening?"

"Moist palms." Sarah watched as his eyes narrowed seeking an explanation. "Whenever you freak out or find yourself in an awkward situation, your palms get moist. I'm guessing you and Ellie aren't exactly on speaking terms right now?"

"No, but I think that's going to change."

"It had better mister. I love you both and I don't want to come between you and your sister."

"To late for that Sarah, you're my number one girl and no one will ever come between us." Chuck smiled at her as the meaning of his words sunk in, "but Ellie is still my number two girl, I'll talk to her."

"I love you Chuck Bartowski." She grinned back at him. "How did I get so lucky?"

"Luck hell. It was dogged perseverance on my part and don't you forget it." He kissed her lightly on the mouth. "Now get better so we can get the hell out of here. You know how I hate hospitals."

*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

***Present Day 1:46 PM***

The attacker's hands flexed as his grip tightened on the oily flesh of the victim. He listened carefully, the only distractions were the muffled sounds of cloth covered limbs thumping softly against the tile floor as he struggled. He increased pressure watching the man's eyes bulge, a few seconds more and his ears were rewarded with an audible pop as his victim's Adam's apple broke free. He released his grip, the man wasn't dead yet, but weakened from the struggle, barely able to regain his breath and unable to scream, he was already as good as dead. The attacker reached into his pants pocket and produced a small knife with a wickedly curved blade. Grabbing the back of the prisoner's head he jerked hard, then brought the knife into view. A quick arcing motion and he'd managed to cut through the tissue beneath the jaw line, reaching his gloved fingers into the wound he yanked down the tongue which, freed of it's prison, hung down nearly five inches. Another flick of the wrist and the tongue fell free onto the floor. A grim smile crossed the man's lips, he buried the knife into the groin of the prisoner who, without vocal chords or tongue, was reduced to spraying blood on the plastic apron the attacker wore.

The attacker turned his attention to the wall behind the dying man. Using the stump of the tongue as a brush he began to write. He hated this part, his Spanish had never been more than fair and the tongue kept going dry requiring him to return to the dying man to dip it in his blood like a soft flabby quill in ink. Still the message was required. It was something that was needed to drive the point home, to make sure the real message wasn't lost on the right people. After three minutes he stood back and observed his handiwork.

"_¡Los Puercos armenios! Esto es lo que usted consigue cuando usted jode con el Longos!"_

Satisfied he tucked the tongue into a plastic baggy and deposited it in his shirt pocket. He then carefully peeled off the disposable plastic apron and vinyl gloves he was wearing, and proceeded to wash up in the sink attached to the wet bar. He stopped for a second, poured himself a scotch and savored the flavor of the fine single malt. Looking back at his work he grunted approvingly, then adjusted his cap to make sure the cameras wouldn't catch his face. Without a backward glance he walked out of the room and closed the door securely behind him, then turned and headed down the hallway to the front door of the condo stepping over the bodies of the guards he'd disabled earlier, checking for a pulse on one he was satisfied that he'd recover within an hours or so.

He walked out of the condo and out into the late afternoon sun. Within minutes he was behind the wheel of a cherry looking black 1989 Crown Victoria and the condo complex was a distant memory. He stopped in front of a 'Going Postal!' store and dropped off a small package addressed to one Paul Kezerian and marked "perishable". On his way back to the car he lit up a Cuban cigar and let out a low, satisfied laugh. The war had begun.

*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*---*

***One Day Ago 10:01 AM***

In the Castle, at a conference table in front of a large plasma screen Casey and Chuck sat waiting for General Beckman and Director Harriman to begin their after action mission debriefing. The two men sat in stoney silence. Chuck was lost in thought about Sarah's recovery, and Casey seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

"Good morning gentlemen." It was Director Harriman who spoke, while General Beckman sat mutely. "Before we begin what is the status of Agent Walker?"

"Ma'am, Agent Walker continues to recover nicely. Despite three gun shot wounds from a sniper rifle that managed to penetrate her body armor," Chuck was proud that he'd managed to say that without a noticeable hitch in his breath. "Doctor Devon Woodcombe has indicated that her progress has surpassed expectations and she should be sent home within the next two days. With luck she could be cleared for active duty again within a month."

"Excellent news and you know, of course, our prayers are with you and Agent Walker Chuck." Director Harriman smiled at him. "However while her skills will be sorely missed I'd like you to consider adding Agent Crabbe to the team in a support role on missions and of course your field experience and the continuing improvement mean that in Sarah's absence you'll take the field with Major Casey instead of staying back."

"Is that wise Director Harriman? I mean Chuck has gotten a lot better, he's almost a competent field agent, but he is still an Intersect."

"We realize that but this was always a possibility Major," General Beckman took the lead now, "Given the degree of infiltration by the Triumvirate there's no one within the NSA or CIA we can spare for your team. Hopefully the inclusion of Agent Crabbe will mean that your team's effectiveness isn't impaired too much by the loss of Agent Walker. Now on to more pressing matters, the failure of the mission two days ago. Have we determined what happened?"

"It was an ambush General, pure and simple." Chuck swallowed. "I'm still not sure how it happened, Agent Walker's performance was exemplary and she managed to plant all six surveillance devices within Kezerian's condo, the only thing we can surmise is that they were discovered and left in place to feed us false intel."

"You realize what you're saying?" General Beckman leaned into the camera. "If what your saying is true then your mission is compromised and there's no going forward for your team, it will have to be abandoned as a failure. Is that what you're suggesting Agent Bartowski?"

"Ma'am, right now I can't think of any way to deal with this that doesn't involve starting a war between the Longo Kings and the Armenians, and I don't think you want to deal with the fallout from that."

"An interesting thought Agent Bartowski, and of course you're correct." General Beckman nodded in agreement but Director Harriman gave Chuck an appraising look. "It's a shame really, no one has had a better winning streak than your team but I suppose you were due to lose one at some time."

"Yes Ma'am I'm aware of that, but I don't consider this a loss just yet" he smiled, "more a delayed action."

"Very well then Agent Bartowski, consider your team on stand-down status for the next week. Take no action on this mission, we'll kick it back to the FBI for another run at it."

The screen went blank and seconds later Chuck was heading toward the stairs out of the Castle. Casey grunted behind him, giving Chuck reason to pause. He turned around to face the big man and he could see that there were a lot of questions on his face, he sighed.

"What is it Casey?" Chuck cocked an eyebrow.

"So, did you mean what you said?" Casey's eyes searched Chuck's face for any sign of hesitation.

"About what?" Chuck finally gave Casey a grin. "About starting a war between the Kings and the Armenians? Yes."

"You realize that this would be a totally off the books operation? There's no going back from that." He waited for Chuck to back down.

"Yes, I do." He nodded to Casey. "But they have to be stopped, don't they Casey? The FBI, DEA, LAPD, no one can touch them and that's what we do isn't it? Touch the untouchables?"

"As long as it isn't about revenge Chuck." His voice rumbled a warning.

"I can't say that it's not Casey, I won't lie and say that didn't motivate me." His grin tightened into a grim smile. " But just because there's some revenge involved doesn't mean the greater good isn't being served too does it?"

Casey nodded. The kid was right, this was the only way to handle it and this was exactly the kind of thing they did. He just never expected Chuck to come to that conclusion. "You know there'll be fallout, right? Civilian casualties are almost a guarantee."

"Civilian casualties are happening right now Casey, the Kings and the Armenians kill people and end lives every day." Chuck's voice was heavy with sarcasm. "What I'm proposing is that we just redirect their energies. Once they're focused on each other we can start feeding them intel, honing their attacks, minimize innocent deaths and leave them so weak that in another month we can move in and cleanup what's left."

"So your sure of this?" Casey had to give him an out.

"Trust me Casey, I'm good with this plan." Chuck nodded and then gave the big man a smile. "Just...Trust me."

Casey didn't say another word, instead he nodded and watched as Chuck turned and left the Castle. He was right. Casey knew it, Beckman would have agreed and so would Harriman. Hell, even Walker would have approved of this plan in theory. It was just strange hearing it come out of Chuck's mouth. Becoming an Agent had changed him, seeing Walker almost dead had certainly changed him. Chuck was still a nice guy, genuine and caring in that way that Casey never would be, but he dealt with the real world now. He seemed to have lost some of his innocence and for some reason that bothered Casey. Casey shook off the feeling, it was time to get to work. He went to the weapons locker and selected a short knife with a wickedly curved retractable blade. Running his thumb along the edge he couldn't help but smile. Chuck had asked for his trust and when it was a matters of trust he put his faith in Chuck, he truly did.

* * *

SFO - Senior Field Officer, the agent in charge of a permanent field office.

_A/N – the Spanish Translation reads: Armenian Pigs! this is what you get when you fuck with the Longos!_

_A/N Addendum - I tried a little something different here, changing the timeline around in scene blocks instead of making it linear. Sort of what you see in some of the better movies where you start in the middle and flash back and forward until the end. Let me know what you think._


End file.
